“Robert E Lee also indicated that it was a rebellion. It was a rebellion. The mystery is why anyone would want to now change the terminology. “
I don’t. I just point out that it’s the same descriptor used by the lawful British government at the time of the American Revolution. I just ask for consistency. It was rebellion and secession in both cases.
I have no opinion on the name of the Civil War. Call it whatever you want. I prefer to call it the Civil War.
About that word "rebellion" there is no dispute.
Our Founders fully understood that they were in rebellion and revolution for independence against the King of England.
All knew the consequence of failure, as Benjamin Franklin famously quipped, on July 4, 1776:
None had delusions that victory in revolutionary war was guaranteed, or that success in rebellion was some kind of "right".
All expected, if necessary, to commit their "lives, their fortunes and sacred honor" to the cause of independence.
But Founders never used that word "secession", neither in 1776 nor any other time in their lives.
The word "secession" came into use much later, with future generations, and held a very different meaning than our Founders' Revolution.
Secession, then and now, means a formal withdrawal from membership in a voluntary political organization, a situation which never applied to Founders in 1776.
The word "secession" did however apply to Confederates of 1860 & 1861, in the sense that their secession was accomplished voluntarily (on their part), peacefully and the new government formed somewhat lawfully.
Important to remember that unlike 1776, secession was declared long before Civil War, and did not cause Civil War.
Indeed, had there been a determined secessionist effort to avoid war, Confederacy may well have succeeded.
By stark contrast, by the July 4, 1776 Declaration, Brits had already effectively declared and waged war against Americans for 18 months causing 3,500 American casualties, including over 800 deaths and major property destructions.
And least you suppose those are relatively insignificant numbers of American deaths, remember total population then was only 3 million meaning 800 deaths in 1776 was equivalent to 80,000 American deaths today.
By contrast, there were no military deaths in the Confederacy until months after it first provoked, then started and formally declared war on the United States.